Our Board of Directors has made a commitment to position WHYY as a unique partner in the community. We are offering the communications capacity of TV12, 91FM, the Internet-and much more-to empower people to discover each other's cultures and issues.

We are actively reaching out to individuals and strategic partners in the region to learn how our communications platform can be used most effectively to improve their lives. Our hope is that every person will be able to find common ground through us, and this cultural crossroads will thrive as we keep up with the rapidly changing information age. In addition to answering new marketplace demands, WHYY and the other public television stations across the nation must meet a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate to begin digital broadcasting by the year 2003. "Going digital" will mean more than better television pictures and sound. For those who support and use WHYY's services, digital broadcasting will also mean multiple television and radio channels, plus supplemental information delivery. All of these innovations enable us to better fulfill our educational mission in the Delaware Valley.

The Board has made a strategic choice to consider these changes as an extraordinary opportunity to serve our community's needs in many new ways, some of which have yet to be imagined. Our community is calling upon WHYY to use this added capacity to offer more value to people's lives than ever, and they will help us redefine WHYY as much more than a premier public radio and television station. This approach places a premium on WHYY's need to be "best in class" in all the services we provide and in the strategic partnerships we pursue.

Working with area schools, businesses, cultural groups, listeners and viewers, WHYY is in the process of expanding our services to:

• Present Regional news and information through a multi-media public affairs service across TV12, 91FM, the Internet, datacasting, community events and more. For example, 91FM will hire its first reporter dedicated to New Jersey news in the fall of 1998, and an electronic banner across the WHYY Technology Center facades will present headline news 24 hours a day.
• Increase coverage and presentation of Delaware Valley arts and culture on TV12, 91FM and more, from opera to world-renowned authors, and from forums on local race relations to discussions with international experts on world affairs.
• Provide comprehensive Ready To Learn services so that every child reached learns how to love learning and translates that to more productive educational experiences.
• Expand offerings for WHYY's Home College and Distance Learning services on TV12 and the Internet.
• Continue excellent broadcast programming and increase local productions on 91FM and TV12.
• Become a factor in making the region a tourist destination and facilitate regional economic development, such as on-demand delivery of workplace development programs to local businesses and organizations to create a more highly trained workforce. To expand these services, this year WHYY publicly launched its $15 million Campaign for Independence, as part of a $23 million initiative which will create a new Technology Center in Philadelphia, support conversion to digital production and broadcasting and build a lasting program endowment.

Of course, the possibility of any vision for tomorrow rests on the accomplishments of yesterday, including the able leadership of former WHYY President Frederick Breitenfeld, Jr., who retired from his post this past November. We salute Rick and his team for nurturing WHYY's growth so that now we are in a place to fully satisfy our mission to support the tri-state area's quality of life and standard of living.

We continue to rely upon the friends whose imagination and assistance make reaching these goals possible: WHYY's dedicated Board of Directors and Community Advisory Board, the talented and committed staff, the loyal corps of volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of generous individuals, families, companies and foundations who invest key financial and collective support. Thank you!

Charles P. Pizzi
Chairman of the WHYY Board
William J. Marrazzo
WHYY President and Chief Executive Officer

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